We had a great day of outreach in Dichato. We were able to go door to door in the new housing area for the folks that lost it all in the Tsunami. In one hour we were able to sign 15 new people for the Gospel of John Course. That was a real encouragement to all that went out. The Heinzes and Pittmans are staying one more night and Bro. Pittman will be preaching again tonight here at Recinto Estacion. We are looking forward to what the Lord is going to do.
We have been winding down on our Salvation Bible studies at Coliumo Alto. In fact, my last two lessons were on Repentance and Faith. Yesterday, Bro. Don Heinz and wife Amy, along with Bro. James Pittman and wife Jennifer paid us a visit here in Tome. Bro. Pittman is out of Calvary Baptist Church in Knobnoster, MO and is here seeking God’s will on his life and ministry as he prepares for the mission field. So, I asked Bro. Pittman to preach to the people last night and he preached on having Peace with God and receiving the Peace of God. In the message he shared in part his testimony of salvation and also preached on Repentance and Faith. I was lead of the Lord to extend an invitation and both Gloria Concha and Griselda Ortiz came forward and I was able to deal with them again and they both repented and received the Lord off in the kitchen area. We are rejoicing as God continues to work in hearts as we preach the Gospel.
We will be heading out and doing some door to door visitation in the new housing area in Dichtato. Pray as we go this afternoon. The Heinzes and the Pittmans will be heading back tonight as I understand. We ask your prayers for their trip as well and for God’s will to be done in the Pittman’s lives!
We held our 2 Bible studies last night in Tome with 2 different groups of fishermen and their families. We had a good response in both places and we were able to sign up 5 new students for the Gospel of John study, we collected 13 finished John studies and 2 finished Romans studies. Our focus in all of our Bible studies are to teach Gospel truths using the scripture diagram method. We believe it to be an effective method of teaching the plan of salvation. We are now focusing on the work of Christ on the cross, using of course the studies on John 1:29, 2 Cor.5:21, Jn.5:31, etc. Please pray as we move into Repentance and Faith! We have just 2 weeks until our move. Wow, it’s overwhelming sometimes J.
Garry A. Castner
Missionary in Chile
Lehigh Valley Baptist Church
On February 27, 2010 a major Earthquake shook all of Chile, one way or another, and lives have not been the same ever since! Our lives have experienced a major change as well, especially as we became focused on those that have been directly affected by the earthquake. We have been traveling every week since the earthquake struck and the Lord has been working in a special way in the lives of those that we are ministering to. The response has been unusual to say the least and we feel that the Lord would have us move to Tome (toe may), Chile until He shows us different. We already have rented our house here in Villarrica and we were planning on a full year furlough back to the States, but then the earthquake came. We cannot deny that the Lord is at work in a special way and someone needs to be there to disciple men for future ministry. You can see by following our blog that God has been working in men’s lives in a special way and that will be our focus in ministry. We felt it necessary to rent a house in Tome to be able to be in the middle of the place where God is working. This past trip we found a house to rent, which in itself was only by the hand of God, since no houses are really available for rent with all the damage and needs of the area. On Feb. 27, we were able to ordain Bro. Carlos Cifuentes to the pastoral ministry in Loncoche, so we are now free to make this move and ministry change for the moment. We certainly covet your prayers as we move forward by faith! It has been a real adventure of faith so far and we are thoroughly enjoying it! The end results are in God’s hands as well!
Garry A. Castner
Missionary in Chile
Lehigh Valley Baptist Church
We had a good study last night with the fisherman at La Estacion. We have 8 more that did the John Course and 1 more for the Romans Course. We also had 6 more new students sign up. We were not able to hold any more studies, but we did visit Dichato and Coliumo and set studies up for next Monday, etc. There is still excitement on part of the people and it has been a blessing to us! We will be traveling home today and covet your prayers. There is so much to do!!! J
Garry A. Castner
Missionary in Chile
Lehigh Valley Baptist Church
More than half of the Bibles from Victory Baptist Press arrived today. We did not expect them to arrive that quickly. It pretty well caught us by surprise. But, it’s a good kind of surprise! J Thank you for your prayers and help in this. Also, we are working on printing the third correspondence study. I was able to find thinner paper to make the booklets a reasonable thickness, and the paper does feed through the copy printer. All of those were concerned resolved through prayer. Thank you for praying.
